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Wednesday, 5 February 2014

The British
government has confirmed the authenticity of official documents of 1984 that
say a Special Services (SAS) adviser was sent to New Delhi to offer military
advice before the storming of the Golden Temple that year.

But UK Foreign
Secretary William Hague told parliament in London that the advice was “purely
advisory” and given months in advance of the Operation Bluestar.

Hague said an
“unnamed British military adviser” sent to India in February 1984 recommended
that any attack should be a last resort. The same adviser suggested using an
element of surprise, as well as helicopters, to try to keep casualty numbers
low, but no equipment or training were offered.

Hague said the
Indian plan “changed significantly” in the following three months as a
considerably large dissident force had built extensive fortifications on the
temple complex.

An investigation
into the British role in Bluestar was carried out by UK Cabinet Secretary Sir
Jeremy Heywood. It involved searching 200 files and 23,000 documents. Hague
concluded: “The cabinet secretary’s report finds that the nature of the UK
assistance was purely advisory, limited and provided to the Indian government
at an early stage; it had limited impact on the tragic events that unfolded at
the temple three months later; that there was no link between the provision of
this advice and defence sales and there is no record of the (British)
government receiving advance notice of the operation.”

In his detailed
report, Sir Jeremy wrote, “Some military files on various operations were
destroyed in November 2009. This included one on the provision of military
advice to the Indian authorities on their contingency plans for the temple
complex. I understand this was part of a routine process.” In response to a
query why the UK provided India with advice from a military expert, Sir
Jeremy’s report says, “The recommendation and decision to agree to this request
was based on advice from the British High Commission that it would be good for
bilateral relations.”

In response to
another query about the nature of the military advice offered, Sir Jeremy’s
report states, “The UK military adviser was in India between February 8 and 17
and conducted a ground recce of the temple complex with the Indian Special
Group. This was before-and unrelated to-the exchange of fire between the Indian
security forces and the occupiers of the temple complex that started on
February 17.

“I have seen the UK military
adviser’s visit report and the assessment that he gave to the Indian
authorities on February 13. It is clear from this that the purpose of the visit
was to advise Indian counter-terrorism team commanders on the concept of
operations that they were already working upon for action in the temple
complex, including tactics and techniques…I can confirm that the report makes
clear that the military officer’s instructions were that no UK manpower or
equipment should be offered beyond the visit of this single military adviser.”

Probe outcome shared with
India: MEA

The UK government has shared
with India the outcome of its inquiry into reports about British assistance to
India in planning Operation Bluestar to flush out militants from the Golden
Temple in Amritsar in 1984. “The UK government has kept the Indian government
informed and has also shared the outcome of the UK government’s enquiry with
us,” MEA spokesman Syed Akbaruddin said. — TNS

http://www.tribuneindia.com/2014/20140205/main5.htm

Justice Mathur to
head Seventh Pay Commission

Tribune News
Service

New Delhi,
February 4

Former Supreme
Court Judge Ashok Kumar Mathur will head the Seventh Pay Commission, which will
revise salaries of over 50 lakh Central Government employees and remuneration
of 30 lakh pensioners.

“The Prime Minister has
approved the composition of the 7th Central Pay Commission,” the Finance
Ministry said in a statement on Tuesday. The announcement for composition of
the commission comes ahead of imposition of model conduct which will come into
force once the schedule for the general election due in April-May is notified.

The retired Supreme Court
Judge, who had also headed the Armed Forces Tribunal, has been appointed
chairman of the Commission.

The Commission has been
mandated to submit its report in two years time and its recommendations would
be implemented from January 1, 2016.

The other members of the
Commission, include, Oil Secretary Vivek Rae (full time Member), NIPFP Director
Rathin Roy (part-time Member) and OSD in Expenditure Department Meena Agarwal
(Secretary). In September 2013, the Prime Minister had approved setting up of
the 7th Pay Commission. The recommendations of the commission will benefit
around 50 lakh Central Government employees, including those in defence and
railways, and 30 lakh pensioners.

The government constitutes the
commission every 10 years to revise the pay scales of its employees and often
these are adopted by states after some modification.

New Delhi, Feb. 4:
The Tatas and the Mahindras will square off with one another for Indian Army’s
Rs 2,000-crore order for about 20,000 station wagons tailored specifically to
the needs of the military.

The army held
rigorous trials of the variants of Tata Safari Storme and Mahindra Scorpio in
the deserts of Rajasthan and eastern Himalayas in Sikkim. It is expected to
announce its preferred vehicle and place the order later this year.

The entire army
will use the new vehicle, which will replace their current fleet of Gypsies and
Mahindra Jeeps. The Tatas are tipped to be leading the race, but the deal could
be split given the huge size of the order.

Indian Army wants
the vehicle to have a 120-brake-horse-power diesel engine in line with the rest
of its fleet and be fuel-efficient. The 1960’s Nissan Jonga, which was the army
“motorised horse” before it bought Gypsies and Mahindra jeeps in the 1980s, has
remained a favourite with the force for its ruggedness and ability to function
in difficult terrain.

However, the army
has now split its requirement into three — a station wagon, which will be a
basic people mover, a light armoured specialist vehicle that can have weapons
such as a machine gun mounted on it and a light-armoured multi-role vehicle,
which will have a blast-proof underbelly to protect it from mines.

The Mahindras will
also be bidding for the second category — a 4-5-tonne light specialist vehicle
— for which a tender is expected in March this year. The Mahindras will use the
Axe platform for the vehicle.

Col. Sukhvinder
Hayer (retd), senior general manager of Mahindra Defence Land Systems, said,
“We have developed our own vehicle for this category and it will be competing
with the Tatas here.” The market for the various kinds of specialist vehicles
required by Indian Army is estimated to be worth $10 billion.

A version of the
light specialist vehicle will be made bullet-proof for para-military duties.
The Tatas have developed for the military market a light armoured military
vehicle, which can at top gear run at 105 kmph and has under-hull blast
protection from mines and light armour. The Tatas are also eyeing exports to
the armies of Afghanistan, Nepal, Uganda, Tanzania, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka.

“We have been exporting about
Rs 100 crore worth of vehicles to foreign defence forces out of sales worth Rs
1,000 crore annually … we have also received orders for a UN peace keeping
force,” said Vernon Noronha, VP of Tata Motors’ defence business division.

Britain provided
highly detailed advice to the Indian authorities on launching a
helicopter-borne SAS-style operation to seize the Golden Temple in Amritsar in
1984, an official inquiry has confirmed.

But in a statement
to MPs, William Hague indicated that the advice was ignored by the Indian army,
which launched a ground assault with no element of surprise, causing a heavy
loss of life.

The foreign
secretary outlined the advice provided by Britain as he published the findings
of an official inquiry, conducted by the cabinet secretary, Sir Jeremy Heywood,
into the inadvertent publication of official papers from 1984.

The papers showed
that the government of Margaret Thatcher agreed to a request from the Indian
intelligence co-ordinator to send an SAS officer to Delhi to advise the Indian
government on the expulsion of militants from the temple.

Heywood searched
around 200 files, which included more than 23,000 documents, covering the
period December 1983 to June 1984. But some documents were destroyed in 2009 as
part of a process that allows the Ministry of Defence to review files after 25
years.

The cabinet
secretary published details from five extra documents and interviewed former
foreign secretaries Lord Howe of Aberavon and Lord Brittan of Spennithorne as
well as Margaret Thatcher's former private secretary, Lord Butler of Brockwell.

There were shouts
of "shame" from the Tory benches when John McDonnell, the Labour MP
for Hayes and Harlington, said that Britain should apologise because it had
been willing to provide military support to "desecrate" the holiest
site in the Sikh faith.

Hague accused
McDonnell of a "wild distortion" as he pointed out that the SAS
officer, who was sent to India in February 1984, had provided advice to the
Indian intelligence services and its special group with the aim of minimising
casualties. This was ignored when the Indian army took charge of Operation Blue
Star – the storming of the Golden Temple – in June of that year.

The foreign
secretary told MPs: "The adviser's assessment made clear that a military
operation should only be put into effect as a last resort, when all attempts at
negotiation had failed. It recommended including in any operation an element of
surprise and the use of helicopter-borne forces, in the interests of reducing
casualties and bringing about a swift resolution."

An analysis,
conducted by the British military for Heywood, concluded that the eventual
operation was carried out by the Indian army in June 1984 in a wholly different
way.

By the summer, by
which time the militants had strengthened their position in the temple complex,
the Indian special forces had been replaced by the Indian army.

Hague said:
"Operation Blue Star was a ground assault, without the element of
surprise, and without a helicopter-borne element. The cabinet secretary's
report therefore concludes that the UK military officer's advice had limited
impact on Operation Blue Star. This is consistent with the public statement on
15 January this year by the operation commander, Lieutenant-General Brar, who
said that 'no one helped us in our planning or in the execution of the
planning'."

The Heywood report
said that the SAS officer visited India between 8 and 17 February 1984 and
conducted a "ground recce" with Indian special forces of the Golden
Temple.

It says:
"With a view to reducing casualties, the UK military adviser recommended
assaulting all objectives simultaneously, thereby assuring surprise and
momentum. The advice given to the Indian authorities identified sufficient
helicopters, and the capability to insert troops by helicopter, as critical
requirements for this approach.

"The UK
advice also focused on command and control arrangements, and night-time
co-ordination of paramilitary with Indian special group forces."

But it says there
were "significant differences" between the plan proposed by the SAS
and the eventual operation.

The report tries
to highlight the lack of British involvement in the final assault by publishing
correspondence from Indira Gandhi, the then Indian prime minister, to Thatcher
on 14 and 29 June. This makes no mention of British assistance.

The Heywood report
said there was no evidence that the SAS officer was sent to India to help
defence sales to India. But Tom Watson, the former Labour minister, said that
the Commons was told that a march to commemorate victims of the siege was
cancelled on public order grounds. But he said that newly released cabinet minutes
from the time said: "In view of the importance of the British political
and commercial interests at stake it would be necessary to explore every
possibility of preventing the march taking place. Export contracts worth £5bn
could be at stake."

Hague told Watson
that the cabinet secretary was "making a different point about different
events" because there is no evidence in the files that Britain provided
military advice to boost defence sales.

Douglas Alexander,
the shadow foreign secretary, said: "Labour welcomes what light the
cabinet secretary's report sheds on the allegations of British involvement in
Operation Blue Star, but despite the publication of this report serious
questions will continue to be asked.

"It remains
unclear, for example, why the government has today chosen to publish Mrs
Gandhi's letter to Mrs Thatcher, but not Mrs Thatcher's letter to Mrs Gandhi.
The pain and suffering still felt by many about the tragic events of 1984
places a particular duty on the government to provide what answers it can to
address very genuine concerns."

New Delhi: A
havaldar has been recommended for dismissal from service in the 2011 Jorhat
dacoity case while his commanding officer along with a woman officer have been
served with punishment of 'severe displeasure' and 'reprimand' respectively.

This was stated by
Army Headquarters today as it dismissed claims that the two officers are under
scanner following a purported sting operation suggesting that they were also
involved in extra-judicial killings in Nagaland.

On the alleged
fake encounter by the same unit along with a Major of the 21 Para (Special Forces)
unit, the Army Headquarters said the complaint letter written by a unit officer
Major Ravi Kiran was inquired into by a Brigadier of the 3 Corps but "no
merit was found".

The dacoity
incident took place in Jorhat, Assam on December 20, 2011 when Army
Intelligence Unit personnel entered the house of a civilian defence contractor
and allegedly stole money and mobile phones from there.

"Along with
the action against the Havaldar, the lady Captain was given reprimand and the
Colonel was awarded 'Severe displeasure," Army Headquarters said.

The officials said
the force has informed the Guwahati High Court about the developments in the
court martial proceedings against the personnel of the 3 Corps Intelligence
Unit.

On the alleged
fake encounter allegations, the officials said the Army was never been
approached by the Nagaland police in connection with the death of the three
Naga youths, whose decomposed bodies were found in Dimapur in Nagaland on March
20.

The Army
Headquarters also questioned the veracity of the alleged sting operation in
which it is claimed that the 3 Corps Intelligence unit officers had held the
wife of a commander of a terrorist group and sought a "levy" of Rs
one crore in Dimapur in Nagaland.

These cases had
taken interesting dimensions in 2012 when the then Army Chief Gen VK Singh had
put present Vice Chief of Army Lt Gen Dalbir Singh Suhag under promotion ban
for alleged mishandling of the cases but it was revoked by his successor Gen
Bikram Singh.

New Delhi: After
scrapping its Rs 3,600 crore chopper contract, the defence ministry today said
it has ousted AgustaWestland and its parent group Finmecannica, facing bribery
charges, from the biennial military exhibition Defexpo-14 starting Thursday by
cancelling their bookings. "Any firm which is facing any investigation or
has been blacklisted, that company and its group firms will not be allowed to
display their equipment at the Defexpo.

AgustaWestland and
Finmecannica had booked online for the show and their bookings were cancelled
after we detected them," secretary (defence production) GD Pati said in
New Delhi. "The defence ministry holds the right to cancel the booking of
any such firms," he told a press conference on the biennial military
exhibition Defexpo to be held from 6 to 9 February. The defence ministry has
cancelled the bookings of Finmecannica and its group companies including Oto
Malera, WASS and AgustaWestland after the chopper manufacturing firm's contract
was cancelled for supplying VVIP helicopters. The ministry had cancelled the
contract on January 1 after it found the firm allegedly guilty of violating the
pre-contract integrity pact. On the export potential of items developed
indigenously by India, Pati said, "HAL has certain platforms such as ALH
Dhruv chopper and Dornier aircraft, which can be used to penetrate the foreign
markets including friendly foreign countries." Additional secretary
(defence production) Ashok Gupta said the government was also working towards
easing the norms for export licences for the public and private sector defence
firms after holding consultations with all the stake-holders. To a query on
whether India would be willing to supply military hardware to countries in
South America which are not in good books of the US, Defence Ministry officials
said if there are certain US manufactured equipment on the systems, then
America's permission would be required. Asked if China was invited for the
exhibition, Pati said the Chinese were not invited and the list of countries to
be called for the show was decided in consultation with the Ministry of
External Affairs. On the exclusion of Services sector from the list of avenues
where offsets could be done, he said a committee under an additional secretary-level
officer has been formed to look into the issue and it will review the fields in
which offsets could be performed. Under the offsets clause, any firm bagging a
deal worth over Rs 300 crore has to invest at least 30 percent of the worth of
the contract back into the Indian defence, civilian aerospace and the homeland
security sectors. To a query on whether Ordnance Factory Board (OFB) would
continue to produce INSAS rifles, which are now being discarded by the Army,
the secretary (defence production) said the facilities of the state-run
organisation were being upgraded. He said the Services have been offered better
versions of rifles and if these are approved by the users in trials, then the
facilities would start producing the new weapons. The official said in 2012-13,
OFB and PSUs together have produced military equipment worth over Rs 40,000
crore. Pati said that 624 exhibitors will take part in Defexpo, out of which
256 were Indian companies and 368 were foreign firms. The US, Britain, Russia,
France, Germany, Hungary, Israel, Italy, Norway, Poland, and South Africa are
participating in the exhibition.

BEIJING — A
three-ship Chinese navy squadron has concluded exercises in the Indian Ocean
and sailed on to the western Pacific, showing off the growing reach of the
country’s seagoing forces at a time of sharpening territorial disputes in
regional waters.

State broadcaster
CCTV said Tuesday that the squadron includes China’s largest amphibious landing
ship, the Changbaishan, along with a pair of destroyers. It said they reached
the Indian Ocean on Jan. 29 and carried out a series of drills on the themes of
counter-piracy, search and rescue, and damage control.

Although not
directly targeted at India, the exercises underscore China’s competition with
the other Asian giant. India and China have clashed over their disputed
Himalayan border and Beijing is a close ally of New Delhi’s arch-rival
Pakistan.

CCTV said the
squadron passed through the Lombok Strait near the Indonesian island of Bali
before heading north toward the Philippines. It is expected to return home
through the South China Sea where Beijing is in a heated dispute with the
Philippines and others over tiny islands, rich fishing grounds and a potential
wealth of oil and other resources. China is also in a separate dispute with
Japan over tiny uninhabited islands in the East China Sea that Tokyo controls
but Beijing claims.

In order to back
up those claims and extend its influence, China has been systematically
developing a blue-water navy that has global reach, including launching its
first aircraft carrier. China has also sent ships to join anti-piracy patrols
off the coast of Somalia and taken part in joint exercises in the Mediterranean
Sea and elsewhere.

The Changbaishan
is one of China’s newest and most advanced ships, capable of launching
helicopters and landing craft.

In mid-February,
the Finance Minister would present the Interim Budget 2014-15 to the Parliament
in which he would seek Vote-On-Account (VOA) to enable the government to meet
the essential expenditure till such time that a new government assumes power
and present a regular budget. Although the VOA is of short-term relevance, the
interim budget would nonetheless contain the estimates of both revenue receipts
and expenditure for the full financial year. It is the prerogative of the next
government to revise the estimates and present a regular budget as per its
priorities it perceives. Defence being a major charge on the Union Budget, it
is worthwhile to analyse the likely impact on it by the unfolding scenario.
Some of the likely challenges that the defence ministry would likely to face
are discussed as under.

The first and
foremost challenge that the defence ministry would face is the impending
general election and its likely impact on the union budget as a whole, and the
defence budget in particular. It is commonly viewed that in an election year,
the incumbent government is tempted to present a populist budget. In that
scenario, the Ministry of Defence (MoD) would have reasons to be unhappy, particularly
so when the modernisation requirement of the Indian armed forces has reached a
stage which is now contingent upon substantial additional resources to remain
on course. Nothing would perhaps describe the grave situation better than the
overwhelming share of committed liability (arising out of contracts already
singed) in the MoD’s total modernisation budget. By 2013-14, the committed
liability has reached 96 per cent (in comparison to 92 per cent in the
preceding year), meaning that only four per cent (or Rs 2,956 crore) of MoD’s
total capital modernisation budget (of Rs 70,489 crore) is available for
signing new contracts. Any further tightening on the modernisation budget in
the coming financial year would definitely affect the on-going modernisation
process.

Assuming that the
government defies the common logic and provides ample resources to the defence
ministry, there is still very little one can expect on the modernisation front.
Since the number of days before a new government comes into power is limited,
the incumbent government would unlikely to take decision on major armament
programmes which have reached fairly a high stage of contract negotiation.
Rather the responsibility to take decision on major acquisition proposals would
be shifted to the new government which would also find it difficult to expedite
the process given the various oversight concerns that often surround the
defence procurement. Given this scenario, the year 2014-15 may well be a year
of inaction, as far as modernisation of the Indian armed forces is concerned.
Some of the modernisation programmes which are likely to be subjected to this
inaction are: the ultra-light howitzers and javelin programmes of the Indian
Army; and the medium multi-role combat aircraft (MMRCA), heavy lift and attack
helicopters, and tanker aircraft of the Indian air force.

The second
challenge that the defence establishment would likely to face is related to the
growth prospect of the Indian economy. It is noteworthy to mention that the GDP
growth for 2013-14 is expected to be around five per cent, which is lower than
6.1-6.7 per cent estimated by the government initially. The economic slowdown,
combined with the tight fiscal situation has already led to tightening of the
government purse. What is of more relevance is that the growth prospect in the
coming years would also remain subdued although some improvement is expected.
According to a recent UN report, the World Economic Situation and Prospects
2014, the Indian economy is likely to grow by 5.3 per cent and 5.7 per cent in
2014 and 2015, respectively. This is in stark contrast with the high annual
growth rate of 8-9 per cent registered few years ago.

While the subdued
growth prospect of the Indian economy in the coming years would limit the spending
capacity of the government of the day, it would, at the same time, have a major
consequence on the defence. It is to be noted that current phase defence
modernisation, which is an offshoot of the armed forces’ long term integrated
perspective plan (LTIPP) 2012-27 and the Five Year Capital Acquisition Plan, is
premised on a high economic growth rate (7-8 per cent annually) and a larger
share (around three per cent) of the GDP on defence. Compared to this optimism,
the economy forecast is rather gloomy and, the share of defence in GDP is not
expected to be drastically different from the current 1.76 percent. Given this,
mismatch of a huge proportion is expected in the coming years between the
expectation of the armed forces and what the government could actually provide
to meet such expectations.

What is of
significance to debate here is that the MoD does not have an institutional
mechanism to address the challenges expected in the coming years and prioritise
its modernisation plan accordingly. It is to be noted that the modernisation
approach followed by the MoD so far is something like a ‘first come first
serve’ (i.e., a service which succeeds in processing its procurement proposal
first, gets the government approval. It does not give due importance to the
needs of other service (s) which may be of greater significance but is struck
in the bureaucratic process). This may serve the procurement requirement of a
particular service, but may not be an ideal solution to address the
modernisation issue holistically, keeping in view the resource constrain. Since
the challenges, as discussed above, are serious, what the MoD needs now is to
have an institutional capability to prioritise its modernisation plan keeping
in view the likely shortage of funds and the vital security requirements of the
country.

NEW YORK: China
already spends more on its military than any country in the world except the US
Now, as defense budgets at the Pentagon and in many NATO countries shrink,
China's People's Liberation Army is gearing up for a surge in new funding,
according to a new report.

China will spend
$148 billion on its military this year, up from $139.2 billion in 2013,
according to IHS Jane's, a defense industry consulting and analysis company.
The US spends far more - a forecast $574.9 billion this year - but that is down
from $664.3 billion in 2012 after budget cuts slashed spending. By next year
China will spend more on defense than Britain, Germany and France combined,
according to IHS. By 2024, it will spend more than all of Western Europe, it
estimates.

The surge in
weapons spending by Beijing - military outlays this year are set to be a third
higher than in 2009 - has come in tandem with an escalation in tensions with
its neighbors over long-standing territorial disputes. Vietnam and the
Philippines have overlapping claims with China to islands and shoals in the
South China Sea. Japan and China have been at loggerheads over uninhabited
islands in the East China Sea.

The extra spending
has bought some flashy hardware. In 2012 China commissioned its first aircraft
carrier - the Liaoning - built from the hull of an uncompleted ship ordered by
the Soviet navy in the 1980s. In 2011 a Chinese-made aircraft with stealth
radar-evading capabilities flew on a test flight as Robert M. Gates, then the
US defense secretary, was in Beijing on an official visit.

Yet the Chinese
military - controlled by the ruling Communist Party, not the government - has
been plagued by corruption scandals that may sap its fighting effectiveness.

Seven decades ago,
Gen Joseph W Stilwell of the US was frustrated by corrupt Chinese generals who
were often more interested in lining their pockets than fighting the Japanese.
Last month the Chinese magazine Caixin detailed allegations about the
extravagant lifestyle of Lt Gen Gu Junshan, a deputy head of the People's
Liberation Army's General Logistics Department. Among the items confiscated
from his villa complex were a gold wash basin and a gold statue of Mao Zedong,
Caixin reported. Gu also allegedly owned 10 homes in central Beijing, where
apartment prices regularly top $1 million.

One military
analyst, Ian Easton of the Project 2049 Institute in Arlington, Va, believes
that China's military is far less capable than its large military budget would
suggest. Last month he wrote that the PLA probably wouldn't be able to
effectively attack Taiwan - the prosperous, self-ruled island claimed by the
mainland. In addition, Chinese troops lack real combat experience and some of
the PLA's marquee projects, including the aircraft carrier, are plagued by
technical problems.

Chinese pilots are
using the Liaoning - its overhaul easy to monitor over the years from the fire
escape at an Ikea furniture store in the northeastern Chinese port of Dalian -
as a training platform to learn aircraft carrier operations. The US Navy, which
has had aircraft carriers in its fleet since before World War II, currently has
10 active nuclear-powered carriers, all larger than the Liaoning.

China is set to
release its military spending for 2013 and its forecast for this year at the
annual session of the National People's Congress next month in Beijing. The IHS
figures may differ from official figures because they take into account items
including research and development spending and pension costs that may not be
reflected in China's own estimates.

It is a sad tale
of a soldier in a state of destitution because of being abandoned by the
system. A Major of the Indian Army who was framed in a false case and dismissed
from service by a court martial in 2003 has been reduced to penury in his fight
for justice. Despite the fact that his dismissal has been set aside by the
Armed Forces Tribunal and he should receive all his pay and pension arrears,
the callous bureaucracy within the Ministry of Defence steadfastly refuses to
give him his due.

Major Bhajan Singh
Malhi served in the Army for more than three decades. He joined the Army as a
Jawan in December 1971. Steadily rising through the ranks he first became a
Junior Commissioned Officer in the Regiment of Artillery and then a commissioned
officer attaining the rank of Major.

In 2003, he was
framed in a false case of demanding a bribe and was dismissed from service by a
court martial.

Today, he is a
broken man. Having fought a tough legal battle against his conviction and
having won it, he is still to get his dues, courtesy a heartless bureaucratic
system which refuses to do so.

The Chandigarh
bench of the Armed Forces Tribunal set aside the dismissal of Major Bhajan
Singh in 2011 after he found that he had been wrongly convicted. The Tribunal
ordered that Major Bhajan Singh should be deemed to have been reinstated in
service in 2003 and retired in 2005 as he should have in due course and that
all his dues should be paid in six months time.

But three years
after that judgement, the Major is still waiting. And in all these years he has
virtually come on the roads. His family has deserted him and he lives in a
dilapidated tube well in his native village near Ludhiana.

Incoherent at
times because of the toll on his mental health he does not have any access to
facilities any ex-servicemen who has put in 32 years of service would have. No
health benefits, no canteen benefits, no pension, no provident fund.

The once proud
soldier today stands devastated in his dingy surroundings. Yet he does not
blame the Army, blaming only the babus, who do not implement court orders.

"I do not
blame the Army for this. I blame the babus in this system who do not implement
the orders of the lower courts," he says.

Inexplicably,
instead of implementing the orders of the AFT, the MoD decided to move the
Supreme Court against the relief given to Major Bhajan Singh and despite the
fact that no stay was granted on the order by the Supreme Court, they refused
still to release his benefits. And now, even when the appeal filed in Supreme
Court has been dismissed, the heartless system still refuses to pay up.

According to Major
Navdeep Singh, a prominent advocate handling military cases, the treatment of
Major Bhajan Singh nothing short of shabby.

"It is a sad
and unfortunate case. Here is a retired Major and look at the state he is in.
Since 2003 he is on roads. The problem is the way judgements are being totally
ignored by the MoD and the Army in some cases. Here is a judgement which came
in 2011 and they just did not implement it saying that they intend going to the
Supreme Court. Now this does not mean that a stay is granted. Without even a
stay they just did not implemented, now the judgement has been upheld they still
have not given benefits. The judicial majesty has to be imposed on these people
or else there will be complete chaos," he says.

In the meantime,
the Major is resigned to his fate. Lapsing into bouts of silence, living at the
mercy of the villagers. Waiting for the elusive justice.